Golden aura
The biggest draw of the Maitri Sangha puja, in its 36th edition, was gold ornaments on the idol. “The jewellery is worth Rs 7 crore,” said a club member. The 20ft idol was decked up with gold jewellery for the second year in a row. “This year, the quantity had gone up. It’s 80kg now,” he added. While Bidhannagar North police station was in charge of the security, the club had also deployed six peivate guards. “The CCTV feed is being monitored in the thana. The area around the idol is cordoned off and only six people —three priests and three of our members — were allowed to go in. Their names had to be submitted to the police in advance,” he said.
Dhaki’s assistant
An elderly figure clad in dhoti-punjabi caught the eye during the evening arati at the FE Block puja. Subhas Ranjan Mishra was playing the kanshor ghonta with a lot of enthusiasm accompanying the dhaki. “Can you guess my age? I am 88,” he said with a smile when The Telegraph Salt Lake walked up to him. Mishra, a resident of FE Block for four decades, grew up in Comilla, in undivided Bengal, and used to play the instrument there as a child too. Despite his advanced years, he plays whenever required on all puja days. “The dhaki respects me a lot. He always offers me a chair,” he said.
An 88-year-old resident of FE Block plays the kanshor ghonta
All-rounders
Be it the community lunch during Durga puja or bhog during Kali puja, the food that was served at FD Block was cooked by the boys and girls of a CG Block-based NGO. “The menu is simple: bhuna khichuri and labra,” said Amlan Ganguly, the founder of Prayasam, who dropped by to check on the team at FD Park on Kali puja evening. In a shed next to the community hall, Ateshwar Mondal of Mahisbathan and Gopal Roy of Dakshindari, along with half a dozen peers, were busy chopping, peeling, frying or boiling. These are the same boys and girls from the slums and colonies around the township who shoot, act in and edit films, attend etiquette classes, learn to play the guitar or do wall painting, collect used clothes and upcycle them and are involved in myriad other activities that Prayasam’s diverse calendar includes. The commercial community kitchen wing they run is called Prasaad. “They work in the spirit of picnic. Even I had lent a hand when they had 800 food parcels to get ready for Durga puja,” he said.
Prayasam youngsters cook bhog at FD Block
Victory watch
Every other block and housing estate had arranged for live screening of the World Cup final and ended up watching the men in blue lose. But GC Block can claim to have watched a victorious match. On Kali puja night, they had their LED screen in place. “Yesterday we had our block programme and tomorrow Rupankar will perform. So since the screen was there anyway, we thought of arranging for the live telecast of India’s last league match against the Netherlands,” said Joyjit Ray, vice-president of GC Block Welfare Association.